CNN to re-air Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination & Listen to Dallas South’s Interview of Soledad O’Brien from last year
Categories: African-American, Featured, Interviews, Racial Issues, Religion and Faith
Written By: Shawn Williams
Last year for the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, CNN’s launched their documentary series Black in America as reported by anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien. CNN will re-air on April 4th and 5th at 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm ET and PT.
Listen to my very roughly executed interview of Soledad from last year by clicking below.
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In the documentary, O’Brien described how escaped convict and armed robber James Earl Ray had already spent an uncommon year on the run that included plastic surgery the month before his path collided with that of the civil rights leader in Memphis, Tenn. Through interviews with first-person witnesses and investigators, O’Brien retraces the steps of King, Ray and investigators and explores alternative scenarios of what may have happened that fateful day on April 4, 1968.
This was an excellent documentary worth watching again and a must for anyone who wasn’t able to catch it last year. More information can be found at www.cnn.com/blackinamerica
April 5th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Thank you for such a fine presentation, however, we wanted to add a bit of clarity for history’s sake. I am the seventh son of the late civil rights photographer Ernest C. Withers and my brother Joshua “Billy” Withers(third oldest son) watched your presentation and wanted to share how our father Ernest C. Withers began photographing Dr. MArtin Luther King, Jr in 1956, he and Alex Wilson(late, editor of the Tri State Defender) traveled together by car to take the photos that are now world renowed of Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy’s first busride at the end of , my father often joked and said he was the first negroe to ride in the front of the bus, because he had to go with the driver to pick up Dr. King and Mr. Abernathy. New York Times carrieds this picture when our dad died October 2007. Our dad had a long term relationship with Dr King and many have noted how relaxed Dr. King was with Withers. In one publication the writer compared his photography with the photography of President Lincoln’s photographer, they both took pictures of the last people to talk to their subjects, like pictures of Dr. King briefcase, his last waitress, the janitor, the bathroom where the alleged shot was fired, the window through which you can see the balcony where Dr. King last stood. One photo of Benjamin Hooks, Bernard Lee and Hosea Williams is most notable. Dad took a series of photos surrounding the death of Dr. King and we still have never before seen photos of the civil rights movement. Our Dad, Ernest C. Withers was the photographer on the Emmit Till case and with permission published a book of the trial of the men accused of killing young Till. This book sold for a dollar and started to mobilized black americans everywhere and especially sparked Mrs. Rosa Parks refusal to give her seat to a white man. We are interested in telling our story and more importantly showing our pictures. Dad received some of the highest journalism awards during his lifetime, he was on the scene many times with Dr. King and we are offering for the first time some of his rare photos of Dr. King in conjunction with Front Street Gallery, we may be reached at 901 201-2270 Andrew, or Joshua”Billy” Withers 901-277-8506.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
We are concerned about providing more details to the life of photographer Ernest C. Withers, who photographed Dr. King from the 1956 bus boycott ending in Montgomery to his ffunereal in Atlanta, in addition he photographed the Emmitt Till murder trial with permission from Till’s mother. Mrs Rosa Parks said the pictures she saw of the bloated body of young Till helped her to keep her seat when request to give it to a white man. We maybe reached at 901 201-2270 Andrew or Joshua 901-277-8506.